I am soon to be going through the self initiation of Liber Pyramidos but there are certain things that I am unsure about so I thought I would consult those here that have either been through it or know a little more about it than I do.I guess I should list here the things I am unsure of:Invoking Spiral Dance: Is this spiralling clockwise while also circling clockwise or are there a couple of different ways it should be done?The secret word of the Neophyte: I have seen it written as M....M and I have seen it written in its entirety. Is it what I think it is?Cutting the cross on the chest and drawing blood: How necessary is this?Anointing the wounds: Would this be, the forehead, chest and buttocks?Magical Motto: When giving this as in 'Speak fair words for ... May he flourish' would it be ones 0=0 motto or ones chosen 1=10 motto?Rubric: What does this mean exactly? Is it to repeat a certain section, if so, which one?

I would also like to know how it is to be performed. Is it just the one time or should it be performed at the beginning of a week and then doing some dedicated practice for a week and then ending with Liber P or should it be performed every day for at least a week?I have have searched high and low for detailed information on Liber P but have found very little so any advice that can be provided to me will be very much appreciated.

MNDO wrote:Invoking Spiral Dance: Is this spiralling clockwise while also circling clockwise or are there a couple of different ways it should be done?

Read John St. John - it's Crowley's diary while he was writing Pyramidos. A lot of these details are described therein. IIRC there is also comment on this specific point in the dance section of Energized Enthusiasm.

The secret word of the Neophyte: I have seen it written as M....M and I have seen it written in its entirety. Is it what I think it is?

Well... it's secret. (Really.) You should receive it from your Zelator. You can check your reconstruction of it by confirming that it toals to 93, but please then keep it to yourself.

If you don't have a Zelator - that is, if you're not really in the A.'.A.'. but are merely doing the ritual while working solitary - you might consider creating your own Word for that point. It should embody your understanding of the whole course of your Great Work at this juncture.

Cutting the cross on the chest and drawing blood: How necessary is this?Anointing the wounds: Would this be, the forehead, chest and buttocks?

IMVHO the main impact of the cutting etc. is that it has to be deep enough that the Abramelin oil will sting like a mother-{******}. Same with the chain to forehead and whip to your ass. Oil hitting broken skin in this locations spreads through the nerves in a pattern that triggers some sensation-spreads that can have some really interesting effect sof energy distribution. - So, personally, I don't think the drawing of blood is a big deal, but the breaking of the skin enough to amp the effect of the oil is key.

A little observed fact: These actions are in the ritual exactly where the Golden Dawn had purifications and consecrations (water and fire) of the candidate. They are intended to stand in for those. The sourge - dagger - chain are the "purification by water" - the application of the oil is the "consecration by fire."

Magical Motto: When giving this as in 'Speak fair words for ... May he flourish' would it be ones 0=0 motto or ones chosen 1=10 motto?[/qote]Excellent question. Answer: 1=10.

Rubric: What does this mean exactly? Is it to repeat a certain section, if so, which one?

What manuscript are you using? (I'm not sure I can answer that without pulling archive copies out of old files. All of our "in use" copies have been edited to spell that out more. But if you can remind me how it's written, I can probably answer the question.) (PS You should be asking your Zelator that one.)

I would also like to know how it is to be performed. Is it just the one time or should it be performed at the beginning of a week and then doing some dedicated practice for a week and then ending with Liber P or should it be performed every day for at least a week?

If this is intended to effect your formal transition to Neophyte, then that's absolutely something you should ask your Zelator about (since they are varying from the standard system and not putting you through the temple version of 671). If you are working solitary, then you have a lot of latitude - again, see John St. John, where Crowley performed it nightly for several weeks IIRC.

If you are asking the "for a week" question based on Liber 185, then I'll just say that, no, that's not what the seven days are used for. (And I really can't say what the first six days are used for without screwing it up forever for anyone coming through the system in the future. If you're working solitary, it doesn't matter - just figure something out and make a decision about it.)

In practical terms, you have to do it enough times to know it and get good at it before you say, "OK, this is the one that counts for my transition." And you can do it as many times as you like thereafter. (Many people, having been admitted to Neophyte by the actual temple initiation version of 671, then learn and perform Pyramidos as part of the work of their 1=10 and perform it frequently.)

I have have searched high and low for detailed information on Liber P but have found very little so any advice that can be provided to me will be very much appreciated.

Mostly because this is intended to be passed directly from Zelator to Neophyte within the Order, and nobody's business outside the Order. But all of my answers have been consistent with you actually being able to self-perform the ritual.

The following might help, or at least be of interest. It is an article that appeared in Black Pearl, Vol. II, No. 1, a Greek pantheon retrofit for Pyramidos. You might be able to some of your questions for this.

Why did I do a Greek retrofit? Here's the introductory paragraph:

Aleister Crowley’s self-initiation ritual, Liber Pyramidos, was an adaptation of the A.'.A.'. 1=10 [initiation] ritual, Liber ThROA. The Egyptian form is well known. What generally is not known is that the earliest form [of ThROA] employed a Greek pantheon: The mysterious “Alpha Delta Epsilon Iota” of the Opening are the initials of the names Hades, Demeter, Hermes, and Iacchus. The whole ritual, viewed thus, is the legend of “The Passage of Persephone Through Tartarus,” the initiation of the Daughter or Pure Soul of Malkuth unto her rightful heritage. Original drafts have not survived. I created the adaptation following for a stage of my personal Work, retrofitting the ritual to the pantheon of Greece in a period when she was heavily influenced by Egyptian importation.

So... take it for what it's worth to you... but perhaps it will answer some questions. (It fills in a few details such as where the five cuts are to occur.)

James, I cannot thank you enough. The advice you have given me is invaluable. I am with a lineage of the A.'. A.'. but my Zelator/Superior is unable to advise me at this time for personal reasons but when He is able then I am sure I can be advised further on matters such as the secret word of the Neophyte.I intend on acting it out numerous times before I perform it proper but I just wanted to get a few things straight even before rehearsing it.The manuscripts I have been using are the ones that are freely available online but the one I have been referring to most of all is the key entry by Frater T.S. for NIWG / Celephaïs Press. With regards 'Rubric' it is written like this; 'Asar! Who clutches at my throat?Who pins me down? Who stabs my heart?I am unfit to pass withinThis Pylon of the Hall of Maat.(Rubric as before)The Lustral Water! Let thy floodCleanse melymph, marrow, and blood!The Scourge, the Dagger and the ChainPurge body, breast and brain!The Fire Informing! Let the OilBalance, assain, assoil!'

The Greek pantheon retrofit for Pyramidos is very helpful so thank you for providing it. I very much look foward to studying it as much as I have the Egyptian form. I am tempted to work with this one also as the Greek pantheon holds slightly more appeal to me than the Egyptian. I am not sure if my superior would recognise it however.Again, I cannot thank you enough *bows*.

I nominate this interaction as a shining example of what can be accomplished on this forum. The question and the answer, and the stuff in between were all very elucidating. It may actually encourage me to participate here a little more. I am pretty bored of Facebook anyway.

A couple of questions on the practice on this ritual:If the individual is "bound and hoodwinked" throughout a large portion of this ritual, how exactly are they expected to perform various actions, such as the cuttings, anointings and gestures during this portion?Towards the end, the "brow" (forehead?) is anointed with a cross and circle in - I presume - Abramelin oil. Is there not a risk of the oil dripping into, and burning, an eye?

bdc wrote:If the individual is "bound and hoodwinked" throughout a large portion of this ritual, how exactly are they expected to perform various actions, such as the cuttings, anointings and gestures during this portion?

The best kind of "binding" is a pair of handcuffs. (For example, after you unlock them, they shake off at the end with the proper motion, make a nice clank when they hit the floor, etc.) You will find a good selection at most sex shops (plus, usually, somebody quite happy to help you try them out and patiently see which ones work for you). Make sure you have cuffs with enough flexibility (rotator in the middle, etc.) that, when you have the key in your hand, you can unlock them. Cuff your hands in front of you, and you will be able to do everything you need to do for the ritual (including adjust the hoodwink as needed). (The key goes on the altar. Don't lose it <vbg>, and make sure you have the spare somewhere in the room.)

That takes care of the harder of the two from a "how to make it work" point of view. The hoodwink is trivial compared to that but, of course, provides a different set of problems to overcome: navigating without sight. The answer is: You simply have to be able to navigate without sight! Know where everything is. Feel your way around. Other than the circumambulating, there isn't a single thing that happens that is so abrupt that you can't make your way through. The easiest aid is to make sure the room is dark except for candles placed in key places - the candle light will penetrate through a layer or two or black fabric (don't get something so opaque that it won't).

[/quote]Towards the end, the "brow" (forehead?) is anointed with a cross and circle in - I presume - Abramelin oil. Is there not a risk of the oil dripping into, and burning, an eye?[/quote]No more so than any other time you put oil on your forehead. (That's one of the basic magical anointings: putting oil on the Third Eye. I would have no idea how many hundreds of times I've done that in my life.) You aren't putting so much that it drips or runs - just a dab.